Oh Brother
by 5redroses
Summary: Loving your brother is one thing. Being in love with him is another...but what if he isn't actually your brother? KagInu Chapter 9 up.
1. Love him

Hi, this is my first fic that isn't a one shot. Some info for you: Kagome is 15 and Inuyasha is 16 in this story. They live at the shrine with their mum, grandpa and Souta. I'm not sure if I'm gonna use Buyo yet. Does anyone know the name of Kagome's mum? If you do then please put it in your review.

Thanks.

Oh Brother

Chapter 1 – Love him

I stood, waiting for him, for Inuyasha. As always though, he caught me by surprise, creeping up behind me and enveloping me into a huge bear hug. I hugged him back, happy to see him and asked him how his day was. He "mehed" as usual and asked if I wanted a ride home; I smiled at him and clambered onto his back, holding tightly to his long silver locks as he ran.

When we got home it was time for our special little daily routine, cutting his fingernails. Inuyasha's grow ten times as fast as normal peoples' and so have to be cut every day. Dad used to do it after work, but that was before the car crash, afterwards everything changed. Of course, mum tried to be there for both of us, but she was having enough difficult coping with her own emotions at that moment so it was left to me to do it. That is after Inu tried to cut them himself, I found him in the kitchen one day nursing his right hand where he had cut himself. After that I did it every day and soon became proficient at it.

As I cut his nails a lock of ebony hair swung across my face, before I could push it back he had reached out his hand to tuck it behind my ear and as he did so his fingers grazed my cheek. I knew I shouldn't but I felt a fluttery sensation as his skin came into contact with mine. I don't know when, but over the years I've fallen in love with him.

I suppose it started when I found out. I was at the age when you begin noticing things about people around you and noticing the differences between them. My mother was dyeing Inuyasha's hair black again and wasn't paying much attention to me. I asked her, "Mummy why does Inuyasha have silver hair? Why isn't it black like mine?"

"Not now sweetie, mummy's busy" Later I caught her alone and asked her again and that was when I found out Inuyasha wasn't my real brother. That he had been abandoned at birth, found by my mother at the base of the Sacred Tree wrapped in a red cloth with nothing else but a letter asking the finder to look after him. How his silver hair, long nails, dog-ears and high athletic ability were because he was a demon. How the necklace that he always wore, the one with a sword pendant, had been specially created by a jeweller called Totosai to bind his demon nature. How he wasn't my real brother. How he wasn't my brother. He isn't my brother.


	2. Sleep in his arms

Author Note 

Here's the second chapter, please leave a review and tell me what you think. Sorry it's so short; I want to leave the next scene to the next chapter. If you're reviewing please give me your opinion about whether I should include Hojo. I was thinking that I probably wouldn't, because I want to keep the whole story set in the house, but that might change. Does anyone have any ideas on how I could include him? Or Kouga for that matter. I think I might already have an idea about Shippou, let's just say that Kagome might end up having her first experience at babysitting. I also realised I havn't mentioned Souta or Buyo, I'll try and work them in. I'm not sure about Sango, she could be best friends with Kagome but then again, in this story Kagome's best friend is her "brother", she doesn't have many at school.

Because I forgot to do this before, Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters mentioned in this story.

Chapter 2- Sleep in his arms

I blinked sleepily, my eyes staring unfocussed on the screen while I remembered the day's events…

_I woke, squinting against the bright light, confused._

"_Happy Birthday, sis," Inuyasha grinned when he saw my astonished face,_

"_Forgotten had you?" he teased._

"_Umm…"_

"_Don't worry I've got everything planned out!"_

I blinked again, then realised that the credits were rolling across the screen. I looked up at Inuyasha and laughed when I saw that he was asleep, his ears twitching at the slightest noise.

I got up from the sofa, shaking the cramp from my legs and turned the DVD player, and then TV off. I sat back down after grabbing a blanket, which I then spread over Inuyasha. I was just about to get up and leave but unfortunately (or fortunately once I thought about it) Inuyasha chose that moment to shift his position, trapping me against his chest. I struggled futilely for a moment but soon gave up, snuggling against his warmth. My last thoughts as I drifted off to sleep were, "The perfect ending to a perfect birthday," as I fingered the silver locket around my neck.


	3. A rude awakening

Author Note

In case anyone was confused, the silver locket around Kagome's neck wasn't the Tetsusaiga, Inuyasha still has that, and it was a present Inuyasha had given her for her birthday. And also the fact that I mentioned earlier about Inuyasha's hair being dyed black in the past, but also wrote "holding tightly to his long silver locks as he ran" this is because Inuyasha recently decided he like silver hair better, and so grew the dye out, and this being Inuyasha, the dye "grew out" really fast (it basically turned silver again a week after he stopped dyeing it, which is why Mrs Higurashi had to do it so often before). As for why Kagome's family was out on her birthday, they had gone round to one of Mrs Higurashi's friend's houses so that they could secretly make Kagome a birthday meal. Also Souta is Kagome's real brother so if I ever write brother I'm usually referring to him. Souta doesn't know that Inuyasha is a demon, nor does he know that he's not related to him. Phew! (lets out mental breath) Now on with the story!

Chapter 3- A rude awakening

I awoke to the door slamming in what I could only guess to be the wind because neither Mum, Grandpa or Souta ever slammed doors.

"Kagome, come and see what we've got for you!" came my brother's excited voice.

I grinned, I had known what they were doing all along but had pretended not to for his sake. I attempted to get up, but found I couldn't due to the strong arms encircling my body. Shit. Inuyasha. I struggled to get free from his grip, trying to wake him at the same time, but he only held on tighter. There was only one thing to do. I rolled us both off the edge of the sofa onto the floor, where he promptly woke up as I landed on him. Just at that moment, Mum, Grandpa and Souta came in, carrying a lighted birthday cake.

"And just exactly what are you doing young lady?"

Man was I in a lot of trouble.


	4. Confrontation

Author Note 

Since I had a day of school due to it being a teacher-training day, I decided to type this up. I'm sorry about how short my chapters have been, but I'm not v good at writing long ones, as I like the suspense. I'll try to make this one nice and long **Jennie555** and I was thinking about adding the hair thing into the story soon, I just didn't want anyone being confused in the meantime, you are so psychic!

Please review! I want to know what you think.

Chapter 4- Confrontation

Inuyasha's POV

Kagome had been avoiding Inuyasha all week, and for some reason he couldn't fathom, Mum and Grandpa had been acting slightly oddly towards her. However, whenever he tried to ask any of them questions, they changed the subject or pretended not to hear him. Finally, he got so frustrated with it all that he climbed the Sacred tree and went and sulked there inside the tree house he and Kagome had built many years ago.

He ran a hand through his long silver hair and sighed, frustrated. He didn't understand what either of them had done wrong, and also why only Kagome was being shunned. He fumed silently; well if she wasn't going to talk to him he would stay out of her way! So absorbed was he with his thoughts, he didn't hear anyone climb the tree, nor did he hear them enter the tree house. The first sign that told him that he was no longer alone was the soft touch he felt upon his ears. Knowing who it was (anyone else and he's of had their hand off by now) he leaned back into her touch, immediately losing his grudge against her, not realising until it was too late that the purr developing in his stomach would make its make to his throat and also his ears, causing them to vibrate. He growled softly when Kagome left off her massaging to giggle at him, but knowing he didn't mean it she started again and continued for quite some minutes.

The salty smell of her tears struck his sensitive nostrils just as her shoulders began to shake. He looked up questioningly but did not expect what he saw. Tears were running silently down her cheeks, over trails where old ones had dried. He cursed himself; she must have been crying for some time, he had just been too absorbed to notice it. She had a look in her eyes that he couldn't quite place at first. Then he realised: it was guilt.

"I'm sorry Inuyasha," she wailed.

"What for?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"For getting you involved in this!"

"In what?" he got no reply. "In what dammit?" He raised her chin with his finger, forcing her to look him in the eyes. Although they were still swimming with tears, there was something new there, a glint of determination in their depths.

"Alright, I suppose I'll have to tell you now. Inuyasha, you're not my real brother, you're adopted and you're a hanyou."

She was expecting anything but what happened next.

Kagome's POV

Kagome saw shock register in his golden eyes before he leaned in close towards her, and as if hypnotized she did the same, leaning in until their noses almost touched Inuyasha bent his head down towards hers and kissed her. He suddenly broke off, and staring into his golden eyes she realised he was as confused as she was,

"What the hell? I didn't mean to do that…" 

Kagome didn't remember afterwards quite how she managed to get from the sacred tree to her room. What she did know however was that Inuyasha had also gone to his and was refusing to come out. Of course, this posed some awkward questions from her family.

"So you told him _everything?" _her mother questioned.

"Not the finer details. Just that…he isn't my brother, was adopted and is a hanyou…" Kagome was expecting her mother to be angry, she had always been very uptight about the Inuyasha issue; but Mrs Higurashi sighed.

"I can't say I haven't been expecting this for quite some time, I knew that it could only stay a secret for so long. I just want you to know, Kagome, why I've been so strict about this. It has been hard for me, knowing that while Inuyasha has always loved me as his mother, there is someone who actually fits that role, somebody whom Inuyasha might want to find," with this her mother's voice cracked and Kagome ran to put her arms around her. When Mrs Higurashi had regained her composure she spoke again.

"The other night…"

"I told you mum, nothing happened!"

"I know sweetie, it's just…you really like him don't you?" Kagome blushed in answer. "Was there something else that happened tonight that you didn't tell me?" Mrs Higurashi pried. Kagome didn't reply for a moment. She had always been honest with her mother, even on uncomfortable issues.

"He…" she tried again. "We kinda kissed," she said in a very small voice, refusing to look her mother in the eye. Mrs Higurashi's eyes searched her daughter's face and immediately recognised what she had been trying to ignore for years. Kagome's eyes were bright and her cheeks were flushed a pretty pink. Mrs Higurashi remembered that feeling all too well, she shook her hear reminiscing then came back to the issue at hand.

"You have to give it time dear, he's probably very confused right now."

"I know mum, it's just hard not knowing," and with that Kagome lay down on her bed to sleep and her mother left the room, neither guessing that another might have been listening to their conversation…

Mwahaha! I am evil! Please leave a review; I want at least 5 more before I begin the next chapter.


	5. Souta's Decision

_Author Note_

Sorry I took so long you guys! Thanks for sticking with me guys, please leave a comment on the story and I'd also like to know how long people think I should make this, I warning you that I'm not very good at long plot lines. I was thinking about 10 chapters?

Oh, thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far:

Maghan  
madyashiefan

paniel

amy  
kandy123654

Winchester13  
KagomeByAnotherName  
Jennie555 (x3)  
SoraxRiku18

angelqt1231  
TheOneAndOnlyGiftedGirl  
Tsukikari Kitsune  
hentai18ancilla

If you wanna get your name up here then get reviewing!

Chapter 5 - Souta's decision

Souta's POV

Souta crept out of the corner where he had been hiding, his heart hammering in his chest. He didn't know what to do. Was what he'd just heard true? Unthinkingly, he found that he had just reached Inuyasha's bedroom door and cautiously, he pushed it open.

Inuyasha was lying on the bed, facedown. He was completely still so it didn't look like he was crying; which Souta wasn't surprised about since he had never seen Inuyasha cry before. He was just thinking this when he noticed the dark spots littering Inuyasha's pillow. Was it possible that they were tears? He wondered why Inuyasha hadn't looked up yet, usually he knew the moment someone had entered the room.

"I wonder if that's because he's a demon?" he wondered out loud, temporarily forgetting where he was.

"So you were in on it too," Inuyasha's voice sounded flat and expressionless but Souta knew from past experience that he was probably very upset right now.

"No I didn't, I'm not sure it's true, I mean maybe I overheard wrong." Inuyasha lifted his head from the pillow and raised an eyebrow.

"Overheard?" he questioned, smirking slightly. Damn, Souta mentally cursed. He hadn't meant to say that bit. "So what else did you overhear?" Inuyasha asked, much more animated now. Souta shifted uncomfortably.

"Okasan" is worried that you might not love her as much anymore and that you might want to find your real mother." Inuyasha dismissed this with a wave of his hand.

"Feh! As if I'd want to find the bitch who dumped me." Souta wasn't fully convinced, he had never even thought of it that way before. Then again, Inuyasha did have a point. "What about Kagome, what did she say?" Souta thought fast, if Inuyasha and Kagome really weren't siblings then what sort of relationship should they have? He reflected on the conversation he'd heard and decided that it was time for a bit of matchmaking. "Well?" Inuyasha demanded, a little impatiently Souta observed.

"She…Nee-chan is quite upset…" he left the sentence hanging in the air.

"Why, because of me? Was it because I kiss-" Inuyasha broke off hastily, he wasn't sure exactly what Souta had heard.

"No, she's confused, she thinks your angry with her," Souta invented. "Oh, and I don't think she objected to the kiss either, seeing how she likes you so much."

"WHAT?!" Inuyasha spluttered. "Did she actually _say _all of this?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself," Souta replied slightly cheekily and ran off, leaving Inuyasha with no choice if he wanted an answer from somebody. Which he did.

Inuyasha's POV

Inuyasha knocked lightly on Kagome's door. There was no answer. He pushed it open and looked inside. Kagome was lying on her bed sleeping, but it seemed that she was having a nightmare because she was thrashing around fitfully and moaning something that Inuyasha couldn't quite catch. He moved closer to her bed.

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha stay, don't leave me." Inuyasha was startled by the relevance of her speech and checked to see if she was still asleep, but it appeared that she was so he tried to calm her down.

"Kagome? Kagome it's OK, I'm here, I'm not going anywhere." The effect was almost instantaneous; at the sound of his voice her body went limp and her ragged breathing calmed. However, it seemed like a stray echo of the dream came back to her.

"Stay." And strange though it was, Inuyasha felt compelled to do just that. He climbed onto the end of her bed and sat down cross-legged, his back leaning against the wall. From there he watched over her until he too fell asleep.

Kagome's POV

Kagome woke up, feeling very rested, more so than she had for a long time. Knowing that it was the weekend she stretched her legs luxuriously, savouring her lie-in. Feeling a warm weight at the end of the bed she assumed it was her cat, Buyo and reached her hand down to where she thought his head would be, still too sleepy to open her eyes. The moment she touched "Buyo's head" she knew something was wrong, this was fabric instead of fur that she was stroking. "You're not Buyo," she murmured sleepily. She opened her eyes to see a slightly irate but also amused looking Inuyasha looking down at her.

"Do I _look_ like a cat?" he demanded. Kagome blushed. "Oh, and you can remove your hand now." She looked down to where her hand was still resting on…Inuyasha's knee. She snatched her hand back and if it was possible, turned an even deeper shade of red. Inuyasha snickered. Desperate to get the attention away from herself, Kagome remembered something.

"And why exactly were you sleeping on my bed?" Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably.

"Let's just call it a truce, shall we?"


	6. Walking to School

Fouf

Fouf. I finally decided not to keep you poor readers in suspense any longer (not that any of you probably are) and do another chapter after my long break. I'm sorry that I've been such a long time, I too have experienced the frustration of an author never updating and thinking that they surely have _some _time in which to write, but as others have said before me, life tends to get in way. I haven't even been reading fanfics recently, let alone writing them. Ah well, its half term now, down to business.

(Sorry to any readers who got the alert for this chapter two times, after a review I received I realised I needed to go over a few things. IMPORTANT INFO:

Further down the page there are two conversations going on at once, the words in italic are Sango and Kagome, the normal ones are Inuyasha and Miroku. When it changes to Inuyasha's POV they are all talking to each other so I stop using italics. The first time I typed this I also put in underscore lines to separate the conversations but it didn't work and the computer's being stupid so I'm just going to leave it how it is now, even though I'm not happy with it.

Clear? I hope so. And for any of you wondering why I didn't just write who said what, I wanted it to flow, like that scene in Grease where Sandy and Danny are talking about their holiday.)

Je commence.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha

Chapter 6- Walking to School

The next day was Monday, and presented a new problem: school. Now that Inuyasha knew his identity, there was the question as to whether or not he should tell anyone. Plus the fact that he and Kagome were avoiding each other, but trying not to let anybody else know this. Grandpa was firm in his belief that knowing that he was a demon would terrorise his fellow students, who were already weirded out enough by the idea of his mutated genes. In fact, when Inuyasha had decided earlier that year to stop dying his hair black because he preferred it silver, there had been a bit of muttering about youkai blood, which he quickly staunched when he claimed he had bleached his hair. The thing was, although Inuyasha didn't know it he was very popular with the girls, due to his rugged good looks and adorable dog ears; which they all wanted to, but didn't dare, touch. There was even one girl, Kikyo, who had been so bold as to ask him on a date, but ended up very embarrassed as he thought she had asked him as a friend. In her own way, Kagome too was popular with the opposite sex. She had two steadfast admirers, who though both very different, were constantly competing for her attention, Houjo with herbal remedies and Kouga with declarations of his love for her and his determination to make her "his woman".

Both Inuyasha and Kagome each had one close friend, who oddly enough seemed to also like each other, although they had a strange way of showing it. Miroku was Inuyasha's best friend. A descendant from a long line of Buddhist monks, he was a calm and peaceful person, the only way he ever infuriated others was with his liking for the "ladies" and his wandering hands, which he claimed had a mind of their own. Kagome's best friend was Sango, a sweet gentle girl, who's little brother Kohaku was best friends with Souta. Sango may have appeared serene from the outside, but she was a actually from a long line of youkai exterminators, and while she didn't use her skills for their traditional purposes, she was very good at martial arts, especially the art of slapping, which she had perfected over the years as a result of Miroku's lecherous ways. It was finally decided that it should, at some point, become general knowledge that Inuyasha was adopted and in no way related to Kagome, but that only Sango and Miroku should be told his true nature.

"Inuyasha sweetie, are you sure you're OK with this?" Mrs Higurashi tried to question him before he left.

"Yes mum I told you! We're gonna be late, see you later." And they both ran out the door after giving their mother a kiss on the cheek.

"Bye," Kagome called as she followed Inuyasha. As they had expected, Sango and Miroku were waiting for them at the end of the road. Miroku and Inuyasha went ahead while Sango and Kagome lingered, linking arms and walking at a more leisurely pace. When Inuyasha had said "late" he meant late to meet their friends, not late for school, they always left plenty of time to walk to school.

Mixed POVs

"_So how was your weekend?" Sango asked as they walked_

"_You could say it was…interesting." _

"So what's up Inuyasha?"

"Umm… I had an interesting weekend."

"_Why, what happened?"_

"_It's about Inuyasha."_

"What did you do?"

"Something stupid."

"_What, is something wrong with him?"_

"That's not interesting, it happens every day."

"_He's a…hanyouandhe'snotmybrother."_

"Shut up. I kissed her right after she told me that I was a hanyou and that we're not related."

"I know"

"Dude, finally."

"_What do you mean, "you know"?"_

"Kagome, I come from a long line of youkai exterminators, not that I have any ill feeling towards Inu or anything, you think I wouldn't know a hanyou when I saw one?"

"What do you mean, finally?"

"Inuyasha, Inuyasha. I sensed from you aura that you were part-demon ages ago, which led me to the conclusion that you couldn't be biological brother and sister. So I've basically been waiting the last three years to see when you would score with her," Miroku finished off a little too loudly.

Inuyasha's POV

"Wait, Inuyasha, you told him that? That wasn't part of the agreement!"

"Did I miss something? Miroku fill me in."

"Well basically…"

"I'm not listening. LALALA." Kagome ran on ahead, her hands covering her ears. Inuyasha looked at the others who were already in gossiping mode

"Right, I'll just…" with that he took off, making sure that he kept his distance from both Miroku and Sango; and Kagome. Damn him and his stupid mouth.

P.S. Does anyone have any ideas for a Japanese surname suitable for a certain redheaded kitsune?


	7. Avoiding the stalkers

Chapter 7- Avoiding the stalkers

Chapter 7- Avoiding the stalkers

That day at school was not pleasant for either of them. As they were in different years at school they wouldn't have normally seen much of each other, except for the fact that Sango and Miroku seemed to have some sort of plot that involved them bumping into each other as much as possible. This wouldn't have been too bad if it weren't for the fact that they seemed determined for a repeat of Saturday's events. Namely the ones that involved Inuyasha and Kagome kissing.

"Look, it's not hard Inuyasha, you just grab her," Miroku demonstrated with Sango. "Lean in," he did so. "And kiss her." A very shocked and flustered Sango broke off the kiss and glared at Miroku.

"She _might_ however prefer it if you didn't stroke her butt at the same time." Kagome sighed; it was going to be a ling day.

Kagome's POV

Inuyasha grabbed Kagome's hand and picked her up bridal style as soon as he found her after the bell. He began running, casting wary glances over his shoulder every so often.

"Err…Inuyasha, what are you doing? You got the first bit right but I don't think that kidnapping me was on Miroku's agenda." She blushed mentally; Inuyasha's arms were so warm.

"Exactly. I'm doing this to get away from his agenda. And I'm not kidnapping you."

"You didn't exactly ask me if I wanted you to carry me off."

"Fine!" Inuyasha let go of her and turned her round by the shoulders to see Miroku and Sango not far behind. "I'll leave you here shall I?"

"Ok, Ok, I give my consent, just pick me up already!" But it was too late; Miroku and Sango had caught up. Kagome made a noise that sounded very like a growl.

"For goodness sake, will you leave us alone if we kiss?" They nodded, wearing identical evil grins. Kagome turned to Inuyasha, and before he could do anything, she took his face in her hands and brought her lips to his in a chaste kiss. "Let's go," she dragged Inuyasha off by the hand and tried not to listen to Inuyasha's lewd comments.

Inuyasha's POV

As soon as they were out of Sango and Miroku's sight, Kagome dropped her hand from his, her cheeks a brilliant red. It took Inuyasha a moment to realise why she was blushing. The truth sank in. He blinked in shock. It had been her who had initiated the kiss this time. Maybe Souta was right; maybe she really did like him. He smiled; maybe Miroku and Sango weren't so crazy after all. He unconsciously traced his lips where she had kissed him with one finger. The sound of a car's horn beeping brought him back to earth. He decided to play it casual, "So…was the kiss for my benefit or theirs?"

"What do you think?" she demanded. Then, without leaving time for him to give an answer, she told him briskly that his nails needed cutting badly and that she's do it when they got home. Inuyasha shifted her onto his back and began to run, his contented thoughts being: 'Things are back to normal. Nearly While hers were: 'OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod.'


	8. A Childish Request

Chapter 8- A childish request

Chapter 8- A childish request

Kagome sprawled on her bed, feeling warmth spread throughout her body. She had kissed Inuyasha. She had kissed Inuyasha and he hadn't objected. She had kissed Inuyasha and he hadn't objected and he had wanted to know why. She had slid off his back as they came in, and laid his hand on the table and cut his nails, and it was like before, except…before they hadn't blushed and looked away when they met each other's eyes, before his skin had never felt so warm beneath her own, before she had never got so distracted by his eyes that the scissors slipped and she cut his nails unevenly. She had always loved Inuyasha but there had never been this mounting tension between them before, she had never felt shy with him until he kissed her. She was shaken out of her thoughts by the shrill ringing of the telephone.

She heard thundering footsteps down the stairs, accompanied by Souta's shout, "I'll get it!" she was settling down again when she heard more footsteps, two sets this time. "Kagome, it's for you, it's Shippou's mum," Souta said, opening the door and handing Kagome the phone. Inuyasha came in as well and settled himself cross-legged at the end of her bed. Kagome smiled, she loved Shippou, he was so adorable, and to think she got paid to look after him!

"Hello? Hi Mrs Neto, it's Kagome."

"Tonight? Yes, I'm free, how long for?"

"Uhuh. Yep. So 7:30 'till 10:00?" Kagome felt Inuyasha nudge her. She gave him a look; it wasn't polite to interrupt people on the telephone. He nudged her again. She sighed, "I'll be back in a sec, I just need to talk to my brother." The word came automatically to her, although it tasted strange in her mouth. She held her hand over the receiver. "Yes, what?" Inuyasha didn't answer, she saw that he was frowning at Souta, who was still lounging in the open doorway.

"I'll leave you two alone together shall I?" Souta said, grabbing the door and closing it behind him. The room was silent, Souta's emphasise on "alone" had been lost on neither of them.

"Yes, what?" she repeated again, in a slightly softer tone, her heart thumping wildly in her chest.

"Can I go with you, babysitting?" this was said in a mumble but Kagome caught the meaning well enough.

"Babysitting?" she echoed in disbelief, "I thought you hated Shippou?"

"He may be an annoying little whiny brat but I don't hate him."

"I should really get back on the phone," she decided quickly, not knowing what else to say. "Hi again."

Inuyasha's POV

She didn't want him to go. He felt his ears droop in the pathetic way that they always did when he was disappointed; he hated it but Kagome had once told him she thought it looked cute. Kagome. He tuned back into the conversation.

"So is it alright for him to come?" Wait, what? Was she talking about him?

"No, he'll behave himself, I'm sure he'll get on better with Shippou once he knows."

"Yes, I'll tell him"

"See you later, bye." She put down the phone.

"What makes you so sure I'll behave myself?" Inuyasha demanded. Kagome smiled evilly.

"Well if you don't you might find me unwilling to play along with Sango and Miroku's wishes." What the hell?

"What if I don't want you to 'play along'?"

"Then you don't need to behave, do you?" she replied, her lips twitching. "Besides, you have more in common with Shippou then you think, you're a hanyou, he's a kitsune."

"A what?!"

"A baby fox demon."

"Feh, I know that, I just didn't know there were any other demons living around here."

"Oh, he and his parents are the only others, unless you count grandpa."

"Why gramps?"

"Because he can be really annoying, and based on your view of Shippou, and my view of you, I'd say-" He cut her short by rugby tackling her and pinning her underneath him.

"What are you trying to say, hmm?" She squirmed beneath him.

"You know, this exactly proves my point"

"I don't think it does, you only find something annoying when you're not enjoying it," he shifted so that his weight was on his hands and began pressing a trail of kisses against her throat, feeling her pulse speed up as he began licking her skin, licks punctuated occasionally by a soft nibble. "Is that annoying?" he asked her teasingly, "Do you want me to stop?"

"Mmm, don't stop." When he heard Kagome's reply his own pulse sped up, he had just been teasing but she…was enjoying it? He had expected a flushed Kagome to demand that he got off her. He leant down again, his breath hot against her neck.

"Kagome, Inuyasha, supper! Souta told me you're babysitting; we need to eat early if you're going out. Mrs Higurashi's call brought them both back to the present. Inuyasha rolled off Kagome and they went downstairs, smiling at each other. Inuyasha paused.

"Wait, how did he know I was going too? Damn kid's been listening at doors again!" Kagome decided it was better not to ask.


	9. Babysitting

**_Chapter 9: Babysitting_**

_Author Note: A big thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, I've tried to get this chapter up as fast as possible but I'm afraid it will take a bit longer for the next one as I have no idea of what's gonna happen. Below is a list of people who have put this story on alert and then a list of people who have favourited it. If your name is up here and you're yet to review, then it would be great if you'd taken a minute or so to let me know what you think. Oh, and if any of you are also reading Sharing A Bed, I'm in the middle of writing chapter 4, I'm just finding it hard to get my ideas down on paper._

1.AnimeFreak126052. BlondieBubbles3. Cresenta's Lark4. Jennie5555. Kikira-Lynn6. Princess Stormcloud02177. ReedyRulz8. Romantical Inu-Lover9. Taja phat chick10. Tsukikari Kitsune11. inuepsfin12. inugirl0613. inuyasha's tennyo14. lost-n-the-mist-courtney15. super.freak.6916. twida17. xxASakuraxx

1. AnimeFreak126052. Beautiful.Black.Joy3. BlondieBubbles4. Claire Cooper5. Princess Stormcloud02176. Sakuras Magic7. SoraxRiku188. Tsukikari Kitsune9. Winchester1310. chantecuzinu11. inuepsfin12. kandy12365413. lost-n-the-mist-courtney14. paniel15. vampirelily

_Right, back to the story_

Ding- Dong. The doorbell rang out loudly. It was opened a second later by a smiling woman with tumbling red ringlets, a little boy peering out from behind her legs.

"Kagome!" he exclaimed and sprang happily into her arms.

"Come in, come in," Mrs Neto chivvied them inside and closed the door.

"Can I change now Mummy?" Shippou asked plaintively.

"Yes, I think I will too," there was a pop and suddenly both of them were sporting fluffy red tails and ears. Mrs Neto saw Inuyasha's look of bafflement and explained. "We use a concealment charm most of the time, which is easy as we're fox demons." Shippou appeared to notice Inuyasha for the first time.

"Inuyasha, do you want to see my drawings?"

"Feh," Inuyasha replied. He was taken unawares when Shippou leaped onto his head, using Inuyasha's ears to steady himself. Kagome winced in sympathy.

"I'll show you the way. Turn left here." Kagome hid a giggle behind her hand; they really did look cute together. Inuyasha appeared grumpy on the outside but Kagome knew that he had a soft heart really. As soon as the two boys were out of the way Mrs Neto went over the times again with Kagome and added in a whisper,

You will try not to overexcite him won't you? He'll probably be reluctant to go to sleep what with Inuyasha being here.

"Sure." What Mrs Neto didn't know was that Shippou was _always_ reluctant to go to sleep, that was partly why he always ended up falling asleep in her arms.

Reluctant? Damn right obstinate was the word, it was an hour past Shippou's bedtime and he was still refusing to go to bed. Trouble was, Kagome didn't want to force him in case Mrs Neto objected. Inuyasha however had no such inhibitions.

"Look, talking isn't getting us anywhere, I'll just conk him on the head and put him in his bed, he'll be none the wiser," said Inuyasha in a stage whisper.

"I heard that," came the indignant retort from the floor where Shippou was busy stacking building blocks.

"Oh yeah Runt? Well you were supposed to. Now you know what will happen if you don't do as we say."

"Kagome, you wouldn't really let him would you?" Shippou's fright was only half staged.

"Of course not," she said kindly, ruffling his hair. "But you really need your sleep Shippou, how else will you grow up big and strong like Inuyasha?" Miraculously this seemed to work.

"I'm going!" The tiny boy ran form the room, they could hear him thundering, well pattering up the stairs. He was already in his pyjamas; they had won that battle earlier.

"I'd better go help him brush his teeth, his hair probably needs brushing too," Kagome said, getting up. Inuyasha stretched and stood up too. Kagome paused on her way up. "You don't have to come, I am the one getting paid after all." Inuyasha "Fehed" and continued following her upstairs. Shippou was already in the bathroom, toothbrush in hand, an uncertain look in his eye.

"I thought I should wait for you," he said, looking doubtfully at the toothbrush. "I hate having my fangs brushed." Inuyasha reached over and took the toothbrush from Shippou's unresisting fingers, then ran it under the tap and squeezed toothpaste onto it.

"I'll do it," he said awkwardly. "I remember how much it hurt when mum didn't do it right. Fangs are more sensitive than human teeth."

"Surely it would be the gums that are more sensitive, not the teeth?" Kagome pointed out.

"Keh, whatever. Open your mouth." The latter was directed at Shippou who obeyed immediately, gazing up at Inuyasha in obvious adoration. It didn't escape Kagome's notice the tender way that Inuyasha looked down at Shippou, nor how carefully he manoeuvred the toothbrush in the little boy's mouth. Kagome was brought out of her reverie by Shippou tugging on her skirt.

"Kagome, can I have a story now?" Kagome smiled, and gathering the little kitsune up in her arms took him through to his bedroom and sat down on the bed with him on her lap. Inuyasha followed, sitting cross-legged with his back leaning against the wall.

"What story do you want?" she asked, reaching across the bed to the bookshelf.

"Can you make one up?" he asked, looking up at her with wide eyes.

"I can try. Right…" she cast around for ideas and remembered a dream she'd once had. Gently combing her fingers through Shippou's hair to remove the knots she began. "Once upon a time there was a girl called Kagome. It was her fifteenth birthday and she had lost her cat…" She was just in her element, describing how the jewel shattered into thousands of tiny pieces when Inuyasha poked her.

"The kid's asleep."

"Oh." And just when she had been getting to the good bit too!

"Just out of interest, what happened to this Kagome and Inuyasha?" Kagome felt pleased, at least _someone_ was interested in her story.

"Well, they travelled together through feudal Japan, picking up companions along the way and fighting demons to collect jewel shards. One demon in particular, Naraku, was dead-set on collecting all the shards and corrupting them."

"No, what happened to _them_? You said that the Kagome in the story liked Inuyasha."

"She does. I mean did. Hmm, let's see…they defeated Naraku and lived happily ever after. Good enough?" Inuyasha edged closer.

"What about the jewel? Did Inuyasha use it to change into a fully-fledged demon?

"No," she said firmly. "Kagome made him realise that she, she loved him just as she was. They destroyed the jewel together."

"Just as he was?"

"Just as you are," she confirmed. "I mean…"

"I heard what you said," Inuyasha was closer still, his lips hovering over hers, "Don't change it." At that moment Shippou kicked out in his sleep, causing Kagome to fall backwards onto the bed. "Talk about bad timing," Inuyasha commented wryly, pulling her back into sitting position. "Shall we go downstairs?"

"You can, I'm going to stay here."

"Why?" he sounded hurt.

"Oh I didn't mean it like that. It's just that he gets nightmares about his dad dying a lot less when I hold him as he sleeps."

"Don't you ever fall asleep yourself?"

"All the time," she replied laughing. "But Mrs Neto doesn't mind, she comes upstairs and wakes me up." He made a move to leave and Kagome realised that she'd made him feel left out. She put a hand on his shoulder. He was nice and warm. "Stay. Just as you are, remember?" He settled back down next to her and Kagome wondered if she dared. It _was_ what she usually did; she just wasn't sure how Inuyasha would interpret it. Her heart thumping painfully, she slid down into a lying position, her head resting on the pillow and her arms still cradled around Shippou's' small form. She was lying so that she was facing away from Inuyasha. She waited a few seconds, then, impatient, turned her head to see what he was doing. Her eyes met his, only centimetres from her own. He grinned at her and he kissed him lightly on the nose before turning back. He shifted closer so that his body spooned hers, his arm slung protectively round her waist, just as it had been on her birthday, although this time it was intentional on his part.

"Night Inuyasha." She spoke softly, already lulled half asleep by Shippou's soft breathing and Inuyasha's warmth.

"I didn't get a goodnight kiss and there's that one the runt interrupted. That's two you owe me," he said indignantly.

"I'll make them up to you in the morning, kay?" He made a sound suspiciously like a purr. "Kawai," she murmured sleepily, and then fell into blissful unconsciousness. Inuyasha kissed the top of her head and allowed himself to fall asleep.

"Aww, isn't that sweet?"

"I don't feel like we should disturb them, they look so peaceful." Inuyasha opened a bleary eye to see his mum and Mrs Neto staring at him.

"Umm, I can explain…"

"No explanation needed, you obviously both fell asleep." Inuyasha wasn't sure if this made him feel better or worse. He chose to grunt non-commitedly and scooped Shippou out of Kagome's arms and on to the bed, tucking him in and lifting her bridal-style in his arms.

"Oh, could you give this to her when she wakes up?" Mrs Neto handed him an envelope, which he tucked into his jean pocket with his free hand. He carried her down the stairs and out to the waiting car.


End file.
